A Black Book

[kleomenes]

A fine, leatherbound book kept on the person of Vadim Morozov. It contains his prayers, catechisms and musings honouring Bane.

[kleomenes]

Prayer Before Repast

As we sit to sate hunger,
Let us give thanks to the Black Lord,
Who suffers us to live another day.

No matter the opulence of our table,
Or the strength with which we won it,
Power only lingers when he is feared.

Eat then, and remember that ever-present truth.

[kleomenes]

Prayer of Loyalty

Lord Bane, souls of service assemble before your altar, and crave your ear, undeserving as they are.

The faithful pledge themselves in fee, in unwavering loyalty and unending obedience.

We pledge to see your will done in this wild land, one so in need of divine guidance.

Through you we find strength. We pledge not to squander that on our own schemes, and so dissipate your gifts. We pledge to add to your dark lustre, your iron glory.

For yours is the power and the glory. Yours is governance and rulership, untainted by the naïve ideals propounded by your enemies. You are the truths of Order, free of the hypocrisy of those who would deny your strength yet use your methods.

We are weak without you. Through you, we share in your glory. But only as you will, my Lord.

And otherwise, until our dying breaths.

[kleomenes]

The Nature of the Faith


In conversation, 6th Kythorn 1357

"...As to his teachings. Well, they are blunt and simple on the surface. Foes of the faith will miscategorise them. For we teach that all power derives from uncompromising authority, as personified by our Dark Lord. He is order and civilisation, tempered to endure the harsh realities of the constant, destructive chaos and wildness that pervades the world. He is unforgiving. Cruel, as he must be. Cruel to his followers to instil the discipline in them that will bring forth their own strength. Cruel as well to those who defy the proper order he wishes set over things.

Beneath the surface, all power is cruel. It is a simple truth, that whether or not a society worships Lord Bane, it is always defined by the exercise of power, of wealth and violence, by some groups over others. Yet this often breeds chaos. When every individual seeks their own gain outside of a framework, one sees the anarchies of monstrous tribes made manifest. On the other hand, when that cruelty is tempered by naivety it breeds weakness and chaos of a different sort, as society weakens and crumbles under an entropic cycle of ever more poorly managed villainy. Deny the nature of humanity, and of any of the other races, and you eventually are crushed by its worst aspects, either individually, or collectively.

It is levelled at our teachings that we preach tyranny, and many would scoff at the idea of this being for a greater good. And a greater good is not the way to envisage it. Yes, for many who chafe at discipline and order, there is woe under the auspices of Bane. Yet the collective. The society that exists as a whole. It grows stronger, and endures the savagery of the world. It is no accident that Bane's faith grew strong first in the Moonsea, where each year of surviving against the hardships of the north is a year of victory. An iron faith for an iron land, and an iron people.. And now, a wealthy people far beyond their numbers.

What we teach is survival, and how we teach it is by revealing the truth of the world. How to master it. How to use it. And how to keep it controlled. [Beyond survival] there is Self improvement. That is the purpose of our discipline. [Self improvement is] power, most of all. Power is the means by which the world is changed. All goals must start with it. Yet a power that comes without purpose is meaningless. Our purpose is Bane's divine order. An order we will benefit from, in so far as we commit ourselves to the hardships and trials of service, but an order that benefits humanity as a whole.

Thus, that is the goal. Society that is obedient, disciplined, ordered, and so betters itself just as we have bettered ourselves. So that it may thrive, and those deserving within it may rise."

[kleomenes]

The Lie of Softness


In conversation, 15th Kythorn 1357

"You have discovered a truth these past months, perhaps. The ambition, the pride, the avarice, the hypocrisy. The manipulations and the judgement, the climate of fear that the so called righteous create with their zealous paranoia. It all reveals the truth of how the world works. Many would call it an ugly truth...

...We are small, petty creatures, we mortals. We have base instincts that rarely can be denied by good wishes. There is a lie that the naïve tell themselves, although I wonder if the term naïve really is accurate for those who fall in their own morality. That lie is that their softness makes the world better. It only lets the rot grow deeper until all of society collapses into chaos. This...hypocrisy that is evident, that which you've spoken of, its a symptom of that collapse. They are not meeting their own standards. It is true, they never can, as it is a false ideal they strive for. But even their own struggle has become a lie, not just to others, but themselves, as they give in to frailties. Vices. The inability to combat agents of destruction effectively is emblematic of the true danger of such self delusion.

You will not find higher morals here. You will not find knightly purpose. You will find honesty about what we are. And you will find higher purpose... ...I do not wear a mask, no. And I do believe that service to Lord Bane serves me, my wife... ...but also serves society as a whole. It is not pretty. But it is necessary. As the alternative is a house of cards built on a foundation of sand... ...one day the wind comes to blow it all away.

Then you will find that the root of the Duke's justice is violence, that power is what moves all government, and that knights who fall from their ideals have taken a step towards what they fight but without any of its purpose."